


Caving In

by gleeandshame



Category: Uglies Series - Scott Westerfeld
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, F/F, Fluff and Angst, I'm Bad At Tagging, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:08:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25483696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gleeandshame/pseuds/gleeandshame
Summary: Shay didn’t ask to be kidnapped out of Special Circumstances or brought along for the ride, yet she couldn’t leave Tally’s side. After their safe arrival to the hidden cave, Tally has time to contemplate where their friendship stands after Shay’s pretty surgery.
Relationships: Shay/Tally Youngblood
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	Caving In

A cool splash from the river below pulled Tally out of her trance. Even with Shay a bit tipsy and doubling on the hoverboard, Tally was able to continue riding with her body on autopilot and her mind elsewhere. The unsteady ride paralleled the unsteady emotions of the night. The last half hour of the hoverboard ride had been awkwardly silent between riders.The silence initiated by Tally and her tears, not wishing to have another difficult conversation. The presence of Shay’s arms around Tally did not make her feel better like it would have just a week ago. 

As the two continued boarding, the strain felt between them was unavoidable to Tally. She had to keep Shay safe,while still having difficulty taking in the new Shay. The cultural teachings of the city and the unreality of pretties’ beauty made pretties something precious to be protected. This new version of Shay overwhelmed Tally; overwhelming her with guilt for the betrayal of the Smoke, the one place to escape the surgery and remain free thinking, and by the beauty of the perfect pretty proportions Shay now possessed. Tally knew the surgery was antithetical to all Shay had ever expressed wanting with her life. 

Tally was thankful to spot the waterfall upstream. Tally leaned hard to race toward the hidden cave. The waterfall roared louder and louder at their approach. 

The girls splashed through the rushing water of the falls.Shay let out a yelp that turned into a cheer. Tally couldn’t help but smile. Tally slowed and lowered them to a soft landing in the damp cave mouth. The two giggled. Hoverboarding over the river to this location with Shay felt almost like old times to Tally. Shay had taught Tally all she knew about hoverboarding and introduced her to what white water was. The two leaned into each other as they doubled over laughing, unclear if it was over the sudden, cold drench of the water or some minor hysterics over the absurdity of it all. 

“That was bubbly,” said Shay with a glimmer in her eyes. “Sure, Special Circumstances wasn’t right on our tail for a while there, but the whole mission out of headquarters was some trick.” 

Tally’s nostalgia for their hoverboarding escapades was short-lived as a pang of guilt hit her. She felt as though she was already mourning the moment she was still in. Tally had to wonder whether this was all just some game to a brand new pretty. A fun trick, and not a revolution. Shay was not privy to the plan of sabotaging and running from Special Circumstances. To Tally, she couldn’t be sure Shay wasn’t just playing along. The sudden worry prompted Tally to take a few steps back from Shay, and excuse herself to survey for any dangers or other Smokies in the cave. 

But Tally and Shay were the first to arrive at the rendezvous point. The cave hidden behind the waterfall was perfect to keep the cruel Specials in hovercars from tracking their body heat. Tally considered this fortunate. The cool night air had rushed over the two girls while they were on the run, but Tally had realized how much she had to exert herself to ride on the hoverboard doubled up with Shay. Not only because of the physical effort, but in the stillness of waiting, again she felt overheated as she recalled the conversation Shay and her had during the journey over. Shay had trivialized Tally’s experiences and feelings for David. Tally felt like her full-body blush would send an obvious signal body-heat signature to be picked up on the heat sensors.

No too long after their arrival, Croy burst through the curtain of water, startling Tally and Shay. Croy boastfully recounted his flight from Special Circumstances and voyage to the cave. Perhaps picking up on the low energy in the cave, he quieted himself after his tale and the three quietly waited for the rest of the group to arrive. 

Exhaustion was a safe excuse for the silence between Shay and Tally, but Tally was replaying what felt like an interrogation from Shay in her mind. The condescension of Shay’s earlier remarks hurt Tally. It wasn’t even that she believed mal-intent was truly there, but it felt almost more like pity. Shay discounted her old feelings for David as just an ugly’s immature drama. Shay’s jealousy over David’s growing closeness with Tally was a thing of the past. Shay was uncaring about the small love triangle. Tally knew it was important to Shay just a week before. Denial of those feelings put into Tally’s head the question of how much importance remained in Tally and Shay’s whirlwind friendship. 

But were Shay’s feelings, or lack thereof, real? Tally wrestled with the thought. Shay had the lesions on her brain. The price of the all-enchanting beauty, meant to bring equality in society, was complacency and compliance. Tally felt that that was disguised as a sudden maturity. Or she at least hoped. 

* * *

It took some extra time for Astrix and Ryder to arrive. Tally took notice of how the two friends interact with Shay. Having escaped to live in the Smoke to avoid their pretty surgeries when they turned sixteen earlier in the year, it seemed they were in real awe of Shay. As much as Tally balked, she still wasn’t immune to the results of the pretty surgery. If not for the guilt, Tally likely would have been just as intrigued and attentive. Shay’s unfamiliar form was a reminder that Tally was responsible for giving up the Smoke’s location and its subsequent destruction. Tally stayed quiet and let the party recount their paths to confuse Special Circumstances about their trajectory.

Having already attended a New Pretty Town party and endured the escape from Special Circumstances, Shay was beginning to tire. Before dozing off, she loudly vocalized her dissatisfaction with the dampness of the cave and the less than comfortable sleeping conditions. New pretties were used to living a life of luxury, comfort, and convenience. The crevice in the back of the cave where Shay lay to rest was a stark contrast to what her pretty life would be in the city. And a prissy Shay was a stark contrast to the Shay that Tally knew. 

Tally hoped that at least Shay’s begrudging willingness to stay with the extracted Smokies was a sign of some remaining loyalty towards the group and her. It proved that some of the old Shay was still in there. She was resilient, thought Tally with a smirk. 

Tally lay herself down on the caves chilling stone floor next to Shay at an arm's lengths away. She could not will herself to lay on her side facing Shay, but turning her whole body away felt harsh. Tally settled for laying on her back. 

Though exhausted, Tally’s body still felt on edge from the night’s events. She lay awake for so long that her eyes fully adjusted to the darkness. Tally stared at stalactites above her blankly. Her continued wakefulness was boring and frustrating.

Tally finally turned her head and snuck a glance at Shay. In Shay’s slumber, Tally thought perhaps she wouldn’t look so intimidating. Her new copper and gold speckled eyes were hiding behind their lids, after all. Shay’s face did keep Tally’s gaze transfixed, but Tally was picturing what she missed: Shay’s unpretty pigtails, her gaunt face, her olive skin. Shay’s lips, Tally noted, seemed to look just about the same. Tally’s best friend was still there, but different. 

Tally closed her eyes and sighed. A memory sprang up to the forefront of Tally’s mind from one of the days that Shay and she pranked new uglies touring the dorm. When they were taking off their disguises, Shay had gotten weirdly serious and told Tally she wasn’t ugly. Shay had touched Tally’s face and complimented her profile and eyes. Back then, that was contrary to anything that Tally had heard about looks. It was contrary to biology taught to them since they were littlies. On that day, Shay was so adamant in arguing that Tally was programmed to view beauty in an unhealthy way, and Tally realized she wasn’t through with examining that idea.

A small hiccup interrupted Tally’s thoughts. Tally turned and heard Shay murmur and begin to chatter her teeth. 

Tally contemplated crawling out to the more open area to get into her pack to recover her handmade sweater for Shay. Tally’s rustling to get up caused Shay to stir.

Shay whispered, “Where are you going?” She first started reaching out for Tally’s hand, but hesitated, and instead lightly grabbed Tally’s forearm. “Stay.”

“Oh. Okay,” Tally scooted closer and closer until she was pressing into Shay. 

“Mmmm,” came a contented hum from Shay’s throat.

The feeling in Tally’s chest felt familiar, but the body on which she laid against did not. Shay and Tally had spent the night in dorms together a number of times in the month preceding both their sixteenth birthdays and their time at the Smoke. Though warm and soft, this cuddle was unfamiliar to Tally. It did not feel angular and bony like she was accustomed to. Tally could no longer call Shay the Skinny to her Squint. 

Even with Shay’s arms wrapped around Tally, she never felt so distant. Tally could not escape the thought that she was the only reason the Smoke was gone, that the Smokies were captured, that Shay was changed against her will. Tally’s unintentional selling out of the Smoke caused so much damage, quite literally and tangibly, but also in abstract ways.

The Smoke was burnt to the ground. It was a legend in its own right. An untraceable place a long trek from the city where no one gets the surgery. A place where people lived in nature and worked for what they needed. The place Shay told Tally was real and worth leaving the city for. It was a place that no longer existed because of Tally’s former naivete. 

Tally hated the irony of the situation. Shay was fiercely against the pretty surgery. She was certain about her looks and living life at the Smoke. And then Shay’s freedom was taken away because to be a pretty was all that Tally once wanted. It was gut-wrenching, it was torture. Reality was nothing that Tally wanted it to be. That stupid pendant...

The heart-pendant that Tally wore on a necklace and Shay assumed was from a new special someone. Tally had agreed and Shay gladly accepted Tally’s lie. With how fast Tally and Shay’s friendship evolved, maybe it wasn’t unbelievable that in a couple weeks’ time that Tally could have met someone. Tally was shocked when Shay had taken the news of her telling her “special someone” about the Smoke in stride back. Shay had said that was exactly what she did when she told Tally about the Smoke. Unfortunately, the actual special someone was Special Circumstances, and they came during the failed destruction of the necklace. 

At the end of her time at the Smoke, Tally had had a change of heart. She grew to appreciate nature, the people, the hard work, the food made from animal flesh, even. David and Shay meant so much to Tally. And yes at first, Tally wanted to give up the Smoke in exchange for her surgery, but she did also care for the wellbeing of Shay the whole time. Tally had thought Shay was in danger going to live somewhere that was possibly a myth. But after living in the Smoke, Tally’s perspective changed. And throwing that stupid pendant in the fire for the sake of the Smokies had caused the tracker signal to go off, leading Special Circumstances right to the Smoke. 

The capture of Smokies had led, of course, to Shay’s forced pretty surgery. Her brain was altered. Shay’s blase attitude about receiving the surgery was enough proof of that. 

Though resting against her best friend, Tally knew there was something broken between them. With Shay’s brain as it was, Tally could never find real comfort in the connection they have. After reflecting on the horrors that had happened to the Smoke and Shay, a few hot tears fell from Tally’s eyes. 

* * *

A savory, tangy, peanut-y, slightly spicy and sweet smell swept toward Tally. A PadThai instant meal. The clamouring of an annoyed, hungover and verbally combative Shay followed… The combination of these two stimulants of the senses roused Tally awake. Tally instinctively reached behind her to feel nothing but the bare, cool, hard cave floor.

Tally was still fighting off some of her sleep's disorientation. The voice of the person she was looking for was coming from the mouth of the cave. 

“I could be having a feast in New Pretty Town, and I’m stuck with these instant noodles?”

Tally could hear the chatter of Shay’s old friends from Uglyville trying to appease the new pretty. Tally was again reminded of their infatuation with Shay’s new pretty features.

Tally shouted, “Hey, at least it’s not SpagBol!” An act of false levity. She knew that these coming days would be crucial, she had to help find a way to reverse the surgery for Shay.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I reread a 2005 ya novel to research for a different fic, but wrote this ficlet/one-shot first. That's just how things go. 
> 
> Please excuse any weird usages of some of their terminologies and content that doesn’t necessarily fit into the Uglies universe. Also, I acknowledge that I ignored the David and his dad guilt, because that’s just too much to unpack here. Besides that, I tried mostly to have a canon-compliant interpretation of Tally and Shay’s cave cuddles. (Yes, so far all the fics I’ve written have been about sleeping in near proximity leading to cuddles, it’s not lost on me.)
> 
> Shout out to @usuallyproperlyhydrated again for fixing all my grammar and encouraging me!  
> ALSO, shout out to @Karalovesallthegirlsbecause she advertised a sale on the Uglies eBook like back in 2014???
> 
> Anyway, Tally and Shay are in love, thank you for reading!!!


End file.
